One of my problems with the whole health care debate is that, for the most part, it has focused on the redistribution of wealth. One reason the Donkey Clansmen have had such a hard time getting a health care “reform” passed is that they offer a zero sum game. For every winner, there is a…

In a few weeks there will be yet another off-year Virginia election, making one wonder why the Old Dominion does it this way. And if you think about it more than a few seconds, you’ll conclude that this has everything to do with Harry F. Byrd, the governor and U.S. senator whose one-party machine ran…

One of the drawbacks of living in the Richmond area is the dearth of penetrating reporting in the local daily rag. Luckily for me, The New York Times finally started home delivery last week in the piney woods edge of Chesterfield County where I have lived for the past nine years. True, I get the…

Creigh Deeds went on the attack yesterday. With some back-up from Gov. Timothy M. Kaine at a Virginia Business for Higher Education Council event, the gubernatorial wannabe criticized Bob McDonnell’s transportation plan on the grounds that it would short-change funding for education. As reported by Jim Nolan at the Times-Dispatch, “Kaine and Deeds say McDonnell’s…

TODAY’S WAPO, REINFORCED BY A FEW ITEMS FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS PAINTS AN INTERESTING PICTURE OF THE WORLD: On the Census report dealing with Stay at Home Moms: Who knew that McDonnell is targeting primarily a lower income, less-well-educated, primarily Hispanic demographic? Not a traditional winner in the Commonwealth. And speaking of McDonnell Tom…

THE TRANSPORT PROBLEM IS NOT WHAT THE POLITICAL CLANS WOULD LIKE VOTERS TO THINK IT IS The Commonwealth’s quadrennial political football classic is ratcheting up to peak frenzy. Many agree that the number one ‘PROBLEM’ in the state’s most populous New Urban Region is “The Transport Problem” In the words of WaPo columnist Robert McCartney:…

It’s not often that I find myself agreeing with op-eds in the Los Angeles Times, but a piece by Christopher Layne and Benjamin Schwarz, “The Twilight of Pax Americana” is must reading. In a nutshell: The United States is on a fiscally unsustainable path that will undermine its ability to continue playing the world’s policeman.…

From time to time, one must admit he is wrong — or maybe not quite right. I’ve been critical of Jim Bacon for his jeremiads against debt and deficit spending, but last night I had a moment of epiphany that shows that he might be on target here. By some chance, I was invited to…

Corporate income tax as a percentage of gross revenues reported to the IRS (2008): United States: 12.9%Virginia: 17.3% Source: Internal Revenue Service Data Book (2008), Table 5. Question: What does this tell us? How do we explain the fact that corporations account for a disproportionately large share of the federal income tax take in Virginia…

For all the wailing one hears, especially in Virginia, about Barack Obama being some kind of radical with a socialist agenda, let’s take a reality check. It wasn’t enough a few weeks back that many school systems in Virginia and the U.S. refused to show his speech to school kids because they feared some kind…

The Virginia Institute for Public Policy has published a must-read analysis of the impact of proposed health care reform on Virginia. Far from bringing the cost of health care under control, as its advocates assert it will, “reform” based on President Barack Obama’s principles will drive medical price inflation 5.2% above what it otherwise would…

Virginia Tech has a great football program this year, but the team that gets me stoked is the squad of architectural-engineering students competing in both the U.S. and European Energy Solar Decathlons, the only U.S. team to do so. The challenge: to build the most attractive energy-efficient house. The solution: The Lumenhaus. I don’t know…

The contrast between Virginia’s two gubernatorial candidates could not be more stark: Elephant clan candidate Bob McDonnell has thought long and hard about Virginia’s transportation issues and provides a detailed blueprint for how he would raise more money and spend it. Donkey clan candidate Creigh Deeds has very little to say about transportation at all.…

Virginia’s two gubernatorial candidates, Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell, vow to get more bang for the taxpayers’ buck. Deeds touts his plan to promote “government efficiency and budget reform” while the McDonnell platform promises to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.” Dig into the specifics and you’ll see some decent ideas. Both Deeds and McDonnell…

Looks like the United States will have plenty of competitors in the race to fiscal insolvency. According to the European Commission’s May forecasts, public debt in the eurozone will soar to 77.7 per cent of GDP this year and 83.8 per cent in 2010, reports the Financial Times. Barring remedial action by European governments, says…